Is your church ready to serve during a disaster? Emergencies often reveal who we truly are—whether it’s individuals, congregations, or Fresh Expressions communities.

In this special bonus episode, we explore stories from North Carolina following hurricanes and flooding. Fresh Expressions leader Luke Edwards shares how churches—especially new and organic expressions—have been uniquely positioned to serve their neighbors in crisis. You’ll also hear from Rev. Dustin Mailman, Founding Pastor of Deep Time, a ministry and social enterprise that creates spiritual community and employment opportunities for those impacted by incarceration. Deep Time has expanded its mission, offering hope through workforce development, worship in local jails, and now disaster recovery efforts.

Joining the conversation is GA, Deep Time's Minister of Social Enterprise. GA brings his passion for community-building, violence prevention, and mentoring his peers to this work. He helps lead roasting operations while supporting outreach efforts that inspire transformation in others.

Listen in to hear how these leaders, through Deep Time’s radical inclusivity and innovative ministry, are making a deep impact when it’s needed most. Learn how fresh expressions of church can grow and serve in transformative ways during times of hardship.

What if belonging could come in a bottle? That’s the promise of Coop’s Soup, which chef and pioneer Cristin Cooper started after her own experience of loneliness.

In this conversation, Heather and Cristin discuss the journey of leaving her church job and explore building community through sharing a bowl of soup. This episode will leave you hungry for food, friends, and a deeper experience of God’s mission.

Have you ever received a present that seemed like it was a better fit for the giver, not the receiver? In this episode, we hear from one of the founding voices of the original Fresh Expressions movement in the UK, Mike Moynagh. We’ll discuss how loneliness is experienced in the UK and how a church is transformed when it is treated like a gift given to bless the world

In 2023, homelessness hit an all-time high in the United States. But simply providing shelter is seldom enough. How can churches provide the “full community” people need to turn their lives around? And how could it affect the congregation itself?

In this episode, you’ll hear from Gabrielle Clowdus of Settled, a movement to help churches develop permanent supportive tiny home villages designed to address long-term homelessness. Each Sacred Settlement is owned and operated by the worshiping community on their land, with Settled by their side for the journey. Gabrielle and Heather discuss what she describes as Full Community. Gabrielle identifies five key elements of what she describes as a Full Community: Intentional Neighbors, Permanent Homes, Cultivated Places, Purposeful Work, and Supportive Friends.

Learn more about Gabrielle’s work at settled.org.

What does freshly baked bread have to do with the loneliness epidemic? Could experiencing Christian community be as simple as sharing a meal? In this interview, Kendall Vanderslice shares how her passion for baking and sharing meals has helped her overcome loneliness and dive into Christian community.

Victor Glover found life in Christ while in prison and began to share his faith with others there. In this episode, you’ll hear how Victor worked with God to love, serve, and build community in an unexpected place. Listen and be reminded of how Christian community can transform lives, even in the loneliest of places.

Fresh Expressions is a worldwide movement of everyday missionaries who want to see churches thrive in the places we live, eat, work and play by leveraging the creativity and endurance of the inherited church. To learn a simple five-phase process for starting a new expression of church go to freshexpressions.com/howtostart.

If you love this free resource, you can access our entire library of practical and inspiring training materials and connect with other church leaders on FX Connect. Sign up for your free account at fxconnectus.org.

Help us spread the word about the Fresh Expressions podcast by subscribing and leaving us reviews on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.

Being a part of a group, or even a church, doesn’t mean you feel like you “belong.” In this episode, David Kim of Made to Belong helps us explore what it takes to build a community of belonging. You will learn about five practices he has identified for cultivating community in a disconnected world both inside and outside of our inherited forms of church.

Fresh Expressions is a worldwide movement of everyday missionaries who want to see churches thrive in the places we live, eat, work and play by leveraging the creativity and endurance of the inherited church. To learn a simple five-phase process for starting a new expression of church go to freshexpressions.com/howtostart.

If you love this free resource, you can access our entire library of practical and inspiring training materials and connect with other church leaders on FX Connect. Sign up for your free account at fxconnectus.org.

Help us spread the word about the Fresh Expressions podcast by subscribing and leaving us reviews on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.

When we go to church, we bring our stories with us. Our stories can color how we experience Christian community, and even affect the larger community.

Fresh Expressions Pioneer Elaine Heath and church planter Charles Kiser are co-authors of Trauma-Informed Evangelism: Cultivating Communities of Wounded Healers. Motivated by their own experiences, they have worked to create expressions of church that are safe spaces for healing and connection. You can learn more about their book at https://www.eerdmans.com/9780802882356/trauma-informed-evangelism/.

In season 5 of the Fresh Expressions podcast, we're exploring the loneliness epidemic that is sweeping across North America and learning how new kinds of Christian community can help.

Fresh Expressions is a worldwide movement of everyday missionaries who want to see churches thrive in the places we live, eat, work and play by leveraging the creativity and endurance of the inherited church. To learn a simple five-phase process for starting a new expression of church go to freshexpressions.com/howtostart.

If you love this free resource, you can access our entire library of practical and inspiring training materials and connect with other church leaders on FX Connect. Sign up for your free account at fxconnectus.org.

Help us spread the word about the Fresh Expressions podcast by subscribing and leaving us reviews on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.